


Last of Me

by zlmbo



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Corrupted Steven Theory, Corrupted Steven Universe, F/M, I have to turn this into my creative writing class literally next period, I wrote this all this morning it’s probably bad, One Shot, Panic Attacks, Steven has PTSD, but i mean that’s canon, connie is just trying man, please get this kid some therapy, steven is fucking tired, yes i named it after a vocaloid song no there’s no correlation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21757882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zlmbo/pseuds/zlmbo
Summary: (A one shot written for my creative writing class.)Pearl invites Connie over to try to help Steven feel better.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 5
Kudos: 142





	Last of Me

It had been 2 days since the corruption began. It worked so much slower for him than it did for anyone else. What took them 10 minutes was taking him forever. It was still fast, though, yet slow enough to make every moment of it torturous. A ticking time bomb leading to him ultimately losing himself, losing who he used to be. Becoming essentially an animal, living off instinct.

Steven groaned, picking himself up off his pillow and sitting up on his bed. He had a headache, and not just due to the giant crystalline horns protruding from his skull. No, this time it was something else. He could barely think yet his mind felt overwhelmed at the same time. Steven rubbed his eyes and looked at his surroundings. His bedroom, same as always. He looked over to the bedside table and picked up a note left on it, reading it out loud to himself as best he could.

_The gems and I went out to talk to the Diamonds about helping with your corruption. I called Connie and asked her to come over and keep you company until we can make it back. Don’t get into any trouble._

_Love,_

_Pearl._

Steven crumpled up the note and tossed it across the room. He then sighed and stood up off the bed.

He looked down at his hands. The same dark-pink claws he knew he could never get used to. The second set of arms that tore through the side of his shirt. It tortured him. Just last week he looked so kind and welcoming, but now his body reflected his mental state: broken. That’s the whole reason this all happened after all. That’s how corruption always happened. It eats away at who you are until…

He didn’t want to think about it. The gems were already so worried. They couldn’t understand how this was happening to him.

But he knew.

No matter how much he tried to deny it.

He was doing this to himself.

He was a diamond, after all.

Only a diamond has the power to corrupt someone.

The sound of the door knocking sent Steven out of his deep thought. It must’ve been Connie. He yawned as he made his way down the stairs and to the front door.

Even Connie couldn’t mask her emotions around him. It was the first time she’d seen Steven since he started corrupting, after all.

“Hey Steven, you.. doing ok?”

Steven looked up at her with tired eyes.

“I’m fine… You wanna come in…?” His voice was a lot more quiet and raspy than normal.

“Oh, sure…”

The two of them went inside. Connie plopped her backpack down on the coffee table as Steven sat down on the couch, dragon-like tail wrapped around him politely. After fiddling around in her bag for a second, Connie pulled out a container, placing it next to Steven.

“Here, I thought you’d like if I brought you some snacks to make you feel better, and I got some other stuff to keep us entertained until the gems get back-“

Steven zoned out. He couldn’t focus on anything Connie said no matter how much he wanted to. He felt like he was in a constant state of being half-asleep. He focused on the container Connie sat next to him. Inside it seemed like there was a small bag of cookies and some other snacks so neatly packed together he could’ve sworn it was Pearl’s work. He couldn’t think about eating any of it, though. The thought made him feel sick.

“-Hey, Steven?” Connie’s voice faded back in.

“Huh?”

“I asked you if you felt up to talking. Like... about everything that’s going on.”

Steven focused his eyes on the floor.

“I don’t get why you’re so worried about me.”

His sudden comment caught Connie off guard.

“Huh? What kind of question is that? I’m worried for you because you’re my friend-“

Steven stood up.

“But there’s no point! Why delay the inevitable! There’s clearly no way in stopping this so why even bother!”

“Because I _care_ about you!”

“But that’s the thing! I don’t want to hurt you! You care so much about me that it kills me to imagine what this is like for you!”

“For me? Think about yourself! Aren’t you at least a bit worried?”

They both went dead silent, the only sound being the crashing waves of the beach outside.

“Of course I am.” Steven broke the silence.

“Of course I’m worried. I’m worried about mom, everything she’s caused that I’ve had to deal with, I’m worried about this more aggressive side of me I can’t control, I’m worried about what my purpose is supposed to be after I clean up all of her mess, I-...” He started to cry. “I’m afraid of hurting you and the gems…” The dark pink patches on his body almost seemed to be spreading.

“I don’t want to hurt you… I can’t stand to think about it…” He started to break into a quiet sob.

“Steven… I-“ Connie took a step towards him.

Steven instinctively backed himself into the couch, falling onto it. He grabbed at his head, pulling on his horns as his headache became a migraine, everything piling up on him again. Something was off. Something was going wrong. His eyes were shut tightly as hot tears slipped down his cheeks. He couldn’t think straight. Everything just came rushing onto him like a heavy downpour. The trauma, the secrets, the lies. Everything his mom did. Her names repeated themselves infinitely. Rose Quartz, Pink Diamond. Rose Quartz, Pink Diamond. **Steven Universe**. Everything stopped for a second. His body felt freezing cold as his gem started to glow, hot to the touch. His name. His fault. It repeated again and again. It’s your fault. You have her gem, you have to deal with her crimes. Everything was too much. Anything was too much. He remembered White Diamond pulling out his gem and leaving his human half to die. He remembered seeing the gems under her control, powerless. He remembered Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot, them trying to kill him upon first meeting. He remembered surrendering himself to Homeworld, not caring about the fact he’d more than likely end up dead. He remembered every single time he came close to death. He remembered Jasper, her corruption, how she must have felt. He remembered everything at once and it made the pain in his head spread to his entire body, making it hard to breathe, hard to exist. They were both crying at this point. Nothing could stop it. Connie stood frozen, panicked, having no idea what to do. Remembering Pearl’s instructions, she grabbed her phone and called her. The last thing Steven could hear before he faded out of consciousness was Connie talking to pearl on the phone.


End file.
